NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Lodge proposed on rim of Lake Billy Chinook
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
BEND — A proposed
tourist lodge along the rim
of Oregon’s Lake Billy Chi-
nook has unnerved local
farmers concerned about
potential conflicts between
agriculture and increased
visitor traffic.
The potential develop-
ment is at the earliest stages
of consideration by the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation
Department, which owns
the property, and Jefferson
County, which may enact
an “urban renewal” zone to
support the project.
Aside from worries about
tourists criticizing com-
mon farming practices,
some local growers are dis-
mayed by the implications
of 27,000 acres of rural
property being designated
as “blighted” for inclusion
in an urban renewal district.
“We don’t believe our
farmland is a blighted area,”
said Gary Harris, who farms
north of Madras.
As part of an upcoming
“master plan” update for the
Cove Palisades State Park,
which is along the lake,
OPRD has floated the con-
cept of building the lodge on
its property.
“No decisions have been
made, this is an idea that’s
part of a larger conversation
Bend Bulletin Photo
A proposed tourist lodge along the rim of Oregon’s Lake Billy Chinook has unnerved local farm-
ers concerned about potential conflicts between agriculture and increased visitor traffic.
the concerns of the agricul-
ture industry, said Jeffer-
son County Commissioner
Kelly Simmelink.
“I find it very hard not to
take that opportunity,” he
said.
Establishing an urban
renewal
district
that
includes the lodge facil-
ity would raise money for
improving roads, expanding
water lines, building horse
trails and otherwise invest-
ing in infrastructure in that
area, Simmelink said.
Under the “tax incre-
ment financing” associ-
about the cove,” said MG
Devereux, the agency’s dep-
uty director.
The “overnight facil-
ity” could operate similarly
to the Silver Falls Lodge &
Conference Center, the Wolf
Creek Inn & Tavern and the
Frenchglen Hotel, which are
state-owned properties run
by third parties under con-
tract, he said.
Such a facility could
also be an economic boon
to county businesses that
rely on tourists, though non-
farm economic develop-
ment must be balanced with
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Cool with plenty of
sunshine
Partly sunny and
cool
Mainly cloudy and
cool
Rather cloudy and
remaining cool
Partial sunshine
54° 26°
58° 29°
58° 25°
60° 28°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
58° 40°
60° 33°
59° 37°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
59° 40°
62° 32°
66° 39°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
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TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
59/38
47/27
55/25
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
54/33
Lewiston
60/31
57/25
Astoria
61/40
Pullman
Yakima 54/26
58/29
50/30
Portland
Hermiston
62/41
The Dalles 58/25
Salem
Corvallis
64/29
Yesterday
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La Grande
48/22
PRECIPITATION
John Day
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63/29
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64/29
Today
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Medford
71/35
Trace
0.04"
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48/13
0.05"
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0.28"
10.90"
7.91"
9.22"
through 3 p.m. yest.
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LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 45/22
64/31
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
54/26
59/29
48°
34°
67°
42°
90° (1934) 23° (1916)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
59/28
Aberdeen
47/25
53/31
Tacoma
Yesterday
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Spokane
Wenatchee
59/39
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
57/20
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:04 a.m.
6:19 p.m.
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Full
Last
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First
Oct 13
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NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 98° in El Centro, Calif. Low 15° in Mullan Pass, Idaho
ated with urban renewal,
the amount of property tax
money directed to existing
districts — such as library
and fire districts — is frozen
within the zone, while rev-
enue increases are devoted
to investments within its
boundaries.
“We then have a pot of
money to pull from to make
those improvements,” Sim-
melink said.
Critics of the proposal
worry that an urban renewal
district will constrain the
amount of property tax rev-
enue available for needed
county services, but they
also anticipate it will create
a precedent for development
within the 27,000-acre zone.
“It’s going to set up the
desire and anticipation for
people who have that scru-
bland to turn it into home
sites,” said Harris, the
farmer and vice president of
the Jefferson County Farm
Bureau.
The county also has a
limited number of valuable
irrigated acres that should
be protected from nonfarm
incursions, said Mickey
Killingsworth, a farmer
and secretary-treasurer of
the Jefferson County Farm
Bureau.
“Once you get this
lodge, you’re going to have
demand for more develop-
ment around the lodge in the
ag zone,” she said.
Of more immediate con-
cern, it’s predictable that
tourists would complain
about farm practices they
find annoying, which may
result in new restrictions on
those agricultural activities,
Killingsworth said. During
a recent air show over the
summer, for example, field
burning was suspended to
avoid interfering with the
entertainment.
“We move big equip-
ment, we have dust, we do
aerial spraying over here.
There are a lot of conflicts,
which is why we’re zoned
the way we are,” she said.
“They don’t want to listen to
balers all night long. A lot of
people are scared of herbi-
cides and pesticides.”
For their part, the county
government and OPRD
acknowledge that local
farmers have legitimate
concerns about the pro-
posal, which would be heard
during public processes
for the master plan and the
urban renewal district.
“From my perspective, I
get it. Those are conversa-
tions we’re going to have to
have,” Simmelink said.
On the other hand, Sim-
melink said the owners of
restaurants, gas stations
and similar companies have
largely expressed support
for the proposal.
“We as a commission
are going to turn over every
rock to get every opinion.
We want full transparency
so we’re not making a bad
decision,” he said.
Any proposed master
plan for the park would have
to be approved by the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation
Commission as well as the
county commission, then
would be subject to land use
appeals, said Devereux of
OPRD.
“If there are issues that
are not overcomeable, this is
not something where a deci-
sion has been made or set in
stone,” he said.
Teachers’ union raises concerns
about impact of drug initiative
By JEFF MAPES
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Oregon’s
powerful teachers’ union
is warning that a proposed
drug decriminalization bal-
lot measure could take mil-
lions of dollars from the
state’s public schools.
The Oregon Education
Association says it isn’t tak-
ing a position at this point on
the initiative, which would
decriminalize personal pos-
session of a wide range of
illegal drugs, including her-
oin and methamphetamine.
The union says the mea-
sure could reduce fund-
ing for schools by around
$37 million a year. That’s
because it would divert much
of the taxes from legal mari-
juana sales from schools and
other services to beefed-up
drug treatment programs.
While this is a small por-
tion of the more than $6 bil-
lion a year spent on schools,
it could have a noticeable
effect on local budgets.
The union on Friday filed
comments with the secre-
tary of state complaining
the proposed ballot language
describing the initiative
“provides virtually no expla-
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
nation of how the initiative
is funded and the impact on
school funding.”
In its comments, the
union added:
“Who would not want to
fund more addiction recov-
ery programs in the abstract?
But if money for those ser-
vices is coming from educa-
tion and other programs, the
choice is less clear.”
Peter Zuckerman, a
spokesman for the decrim-
inalization measure, said in
a statement the lack of drug
treatment has had a “devas-
tating impact on the state,”
including for schools and
student families.
He said he looked for-
ward to “continuing the con-
versation with” the union on
the measure, which is now
designated as Initiative Peti-
tion 44.
The initiative is backed
by the Drug Policy Alliance,
a New York-based group that
has long been in the forefront
of efforts around the country
to legalize marijuana. The
group, which has received
major support from billion-
aire investor George Soros,
has long argued that prose-
cuting illegal drug users is
counterproductive.
The group hasn’t decided
yet whether it will support
launching a signature-gath-
ering effort to qualify for the
November 2020 ballot. For
now, backers are seeing what
kind of language it gets for
a ballot title. That language
can often play an important
role in determining how vot-
ers react to a measure.
A statement from the
union’s vice president, Reed
Scott-Schwalbach, said in a
statement “educators believe
that treatment is a critical
component of overcoming
addiction,” but she said the
union isn’t ready to take a
stand on the measure.
“We filed comments to
clarify that the funds this
measure affects are cur-
rently partially dedicated
to Oregon school funding,”
Scott-Schwalbach
said,
“and we believe that infor-
mation should be reflected
in the materials about this
measure.”
Backers of the measure
filed their own comments on
a draft ballot title for IP 44.
Instead of focusing on drug
decriminalization, they said
it should first emphasize how
the measure would expand
access to drug treatment.
BRIEFLY
Man who threatened 2 gets
services with 68th conviction
PORTLAND — A homeless man, who
is one of Portland’s most frequently arrested
people, is getting a chance to get drug, alco-
hol and mental health treatment instead of
prison time for convictions for threatening
a woman and her minor son as they cow-
ered in a locked car.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported
Brian Lankford was sentenced to three
years of probation through the Multnomah
County Justice Reinvestment Program,
which also is geared to help him find sta-
ble housing.
Lankford has been arrested over 220
times in the past decade and as of Mon-
day convicted 68 times for crimes includ-
ing misdemeanor theft, trespassing, harass-
ment, and other charges.
Lankford told The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live last year that he uses methamphet-
amines, and it’s easy to feel hopeless.
A Multnomah County District Attor-
ney’s Office spokesman says the district
attorney’s office thought probation, treat-
ment and help finding housing would be
better at addressing Lankford’s problems.
If Lankford fails to abide by the terms, he
could go to prison
— Associated Press
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